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Project too pricey for stimulus funds
Published 3/24/2009 in Local News
By STEPHANIE FARLEY
The determining factor for the Kansas Department of Transportation not to award stimulus funding to the city of Garden City and Finney County for the Jennie Barker Road/Mary Street/Kansas Highway 156 intersection project didn't come down to whether it was a good, deserving project, state officials said.
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Laurie Sisk/Telegram — A cattle truck makes its way east along Kansas Highway 156 near Jennie Barker Road. Garden City and Finney County officials had applied for stimulus funds to be used toward the proposed Jennie Barker Road/Mary Street/K156 construction project, but it was not one of the nine projects that was awarded stimulus funds.
"It's too expensive," KDOT public affairs manager Kirk Hutchinson said of why KDOT decided not to fund the project.
According to Hutchinson, the project scored high among a list of 32 projects vying for more than $3 million in KDOT's 19-county District 6. The project, which would, among other things, four-lane Mary Street and Jennie Barker Road through the intersection, also is one KDOT would consider a high priority because of the added safety it would give to the intersection, Hutchinson said.
But on Monday, after KDOT announced the nine projects it awarded about $3.6 million in stimulus funding to, the Jennie Barker Road intersection project was left out.
Garden City and the county jointly applied for $2 million in stimulus funds. About $32 million was available, altogether, to KDOT's six districts. If KDOT had awarded $2 million to the project, Hutchinson said, the agency would've been left with about $1 million to split among other projects in the district.
Hutchinson said KDOT's decision came down to having more money to spread to more projects, rather than awarding larger amounts to fewer projects. None of the projects KDOT announced Monday requested more than $1 million.
KDOT awarded the highest amount, $802,000, for reconstruction of a portion of Avenue A (U.S. Highway 50) in Cimarron from Fifth Street, east 2 1/2 blocks, replacing the existing pavement with concrete. The total project is estimated at about $1 million.
Other projects include:
$396,800 awarded to a 3-inch asphalt overlay on Rural Secondary route 308 in Hamilton County, running south from Coolidge three miles (total project estimated at $496,800);
$478,489 for reconstruction of a portion of Oklahoma Avenue (U.S. Highway 160) in Ulysses from the railroad crossing, east 650 feet, that includes replacing the railroad crossing and replacing the existing pavement with concrete (total project, $637,985);
$160,000 for a mill and overlay of Hodgeman County Road (Rural Secondary) 226 in Hanston (total project, $170,000);
$448,000 for a 3-inch asphalt overlay on Rural Secondary 1664, known locally as the Bethel Church Road, in Stanton County from Rural Secondary 308 (Big Bow Grade), west and north nine miles to RS 1899 (total project, $2.24 million);
$355,615 for resurfacing North Street in Elkhart, from Baca Avenue east to Border Avenue (total project, $455,615);
$99,000 to replace an expansion joint on the East 14th Avenue bridge over the Arkansas River in Dodge City (total project, $165,000);
$495,000 for a 4-inch asphalt overlay on a two-mile stretch of RS 1898 in Scott County, starting two miles west of K-95 and continuing two miles west (total project, $550,000);
$366,179 to Seward County to construct turning lanes at the intersections of U.S. Highway 83 and Sallie Road and U.S. Highway 54 and Sallie Road (total project, $488,239).
Hutchinson said that after the projects were selected, District 6 put in for $3.6 million in funding, which was approved by KDOT.
"We just decided to ask for more," he said.
In all, KDOT saw a total of 34 project applications come in for District Six stimulus funding — two applications for city streets in Lakin were ineligible, Hutchinson said, because they weren't classified as major collectors or arterials. That left 32 projects with about $21 million requested.
"We would have liked to fund all of the requests," KDOT Southwest District Engineer Larry Thompson said. "But we did our best to spread the limited funds as far as we could across our district. We believe every project selected will be a good project and provide both a safety benefit and a positive economic impact in each county or community."
Dodge City, Ford County, Liberal and Hugoton also requested at or more than $1 million in stimulus funding for various projects — Finney County also had applied for about $1.4 million in funding for a mill and overlay to Jones Avenue.
Hutchinson said that if there'd been more time to have discussions with communities, something might have been able to be worked out as far as partial requested funding being awarded.
Stanton County Road Supervisor Paul Case said Monday the county was "happy but shocked" it had received funding. Case said the overlay set to occur in Stanton County will help the locally-known Bethel Church Road, which is in bad shape. Case said the county was going to do the project regardless of whether it received stimulus funding, but that the additional funding helps ease the local match the county must have. The road, he said, is used by oil, natural gas and other companies -- it's a widely-used road, he said, "not to mention the locals on it."
Cimarron City Clerk TruDee Little said the city's "pretty happy" about the funding. The city has another project along the highway, from Seventh Street to the town's edge that's already been approved for funding that will be replaced with concrete. The 2 1/2 block area the stimulus money will fund is the remaining piece of the project, she said, and previously had been turned down for funding through KDOT. Without the funding, she said, the project would have taken longer.
On Monday, Finney County Public Works Director John Ellermann said the lack of funding for the Jones Avenue and Jennie Barker projects was disappointing but not unexpected.
"There was a lot to choose from and not enough money to go around for everybody," he said.
While Ellermann said the Jones Avenue project will happen, but take longer, the future of funding for the Jennie Barker project is uncertain.
"At some point, it'll happen," City Manager Matt Allen said of the intersection project.
Applying for the stimulus funding for the intersection project was a "momentary distraction," Allen said, explaining the city and county will continue to seek funding for the estimated $5 million project through other state funding programs and federal appropriations. The city and county already have applied for appropriations for the project through the offices of U.S. Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback.
There is about $2.5 million left to gather to complete the project.
According to KDOT, 77 projects across the state will receive $34.7 million for road and bridge improvements through the stimulus funding. The number of requests for local funding far exceeded the available funds, with KDOT receiving 422 project funding requests totaling $275 million.
What do you think of KDOT's distribution of stimulus funds? Share your thoughts in our Current Events forum at SWKTalk.com.
Found 1 comment(s)!
Your outta there!
Typical of Finney County swinging for the fences and striking out.
Posted by: roads schollar on 3/24/2009
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